ARA Research

Portfolio Assignment Example LW3

(Keep in mind this is just an example, you can use your own style)

The portfolio should contain these elements:

1. The sources you chose

2. Why you think these sources are of good quality (using the CARS framework)

3. An evaluation of cognitive biases found in the source

4. The sources written down in proper APA style

Research Problem

Investigating what Unilever’s strategy will be with dealing with Brexit.

Source 1

Source: Kollewe (2018)

Quality

Credentials: The guardian is a well-known reputable newspaper, although it does have a reputation of being somewhat left-winged. The author has a history of working for several different newspapers so she must have experience in reporting facts.

Accuracy: The information is very recent and directly relevant. However, the article is relatively short so might not provide in-depth information

Reasonablness: The Guardian is a left-winged newspaper so there might be bias, especially when it concerns big companies. However, the article is not an opinion piece so bias might be minimal.

Support: Unfortunately, the article does not mention many sources. However, this story is reported by other newspapers as well which give it support

Source 2

Source: Marketline (2016)

Credentials: Marketline is known to be a high-quality research agency and, even though the exact author is unknown, we can assume that the information is factual. Marketline also especially prides itself on its strict research methodology

Accuracy: The article is a bit old (2 years) and not specifically about Unilever. However, it does provide good background information to the research problem

Reasonableness: The report is not an opinion article and there is no big reason to assume that it is biased

Support: Unfortunately the article mentions no sources although it does mention the names of the people who made the quotes.

Source 3

Source: Daily the Pak Banker (2018)

Credentials: The author of this article is unknown. However, the newspaper belongs to a large institute in Pakistan which probably means they would not quickly release low quality information

Accuracy: The information is very relevant and very recent

Reasonableness: There could be a bias but this is unclear

Support: No sources are mentioned in the article, but the story could be found on other places in Lexisnexus as well meaning it can be confirmed by several sources.

Cognitive Bias

Source used: Kollewe (2018)

Possible Cognitive Biases found

1. Anchoring bias: much of the article seems to be based on other articles from the Guardian, which in turn are based on official statements made by Unilever. Thus the original data is given a lot of importance.

2. Overconfidence bias: many of the sources mentioned are other Guardian articles, which seems to suggest that they put a lot of faith in themselves.

3. Confirmation bias: all of the sources support the viewpoint that Brexit and the Unilever headquarter move are unrelated, none oppose this viewpoint even though opposing viewpoints do exist

Reference List

Daily the Pak Banker (2018). Unilever picks Rotterdam for HQ as Britain loses the battle before Brexit? Retrieved from Lexisnexus database.

Kollewe, J. (2018, March 15). Unilever picks Rotterdam as sole HQ but denies Brexit link.

The Guardian. Retrieved September 9, 2019 from: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/15/unilever-brexit- rotterdam-hq-london

Marketline (2016). Brexit: Its effect on Inflation. Retrieved from Marketline Advantage Database.

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